Meet Ari Ne'eman

A Q&A with Ari Ne'eman. In December, Ne'eman was nominated by President Barack Obama to the National Council on Disability (NCD), a panel that advises the President and Congress on ways of reforming health care, schools, support services and employment policy to make society more equitable for people with all forms of disability. Ne'eman himself is autistic and is the first openly autistic White House appointee in history -- and one of the youngest at age 22.

His nomination proved controversial, in part because some self-proclaimed allies of the autistic community think national dialogue on the subject should focus primarily on finding causes and cures so that autism can be prevented in future generations. In March, the editor of an anti-vaccine website called The Age of Autism challenged Ne'eman's ability to serve the needs of more profoundly impaired autistic people. "Do the highest functioning with the community," wrote Kim Stagliano, "have a right to dictate the services and research that should be available for their less fortunate 'peers?' I don't think so." Some of these online attacks escalated into threats. In the wake of the controversy, an anonymous Senate hold was put on Ne'eman's nomination. While this hold was in place, he was unavailable to talk to the press.